"It runs on our own servers" and "it is air-gapped" describe very different situations. For a monitoring system that must keep working when outside services are unavailable or untrusted, the difference matters.
Self-hosted is not air-gapped
Self-hosted software runs on infrastructure the customer approves. It may still depend on outside services for identity, licensing, updates or model inference. Self-hosting describes where software runs, not what it depends on.
Segmented
A segmented deployment runs on a separate network segment with controlled boundaries. Reporting, support and updates pass only through approved paths, such as a maintenance gateway or controlled media. Segmentation reduces exposure; it is not the same as being disconnected.
Strictly disconnected
A strictly disconnected system has no external network connection. That rules out live remote reporting: a system cannot be fully disconnected and also send automated live reports over the internet. Updates arrive by controlled transfer and are verified at the destination.
Self-hosted, segmented and air-gapped are different things. A strictly disconnected system cannot also send live reports.
Local essentials
Whatever the deployment, GridFlex proposes to plan local identity, alarms, evidence storage and update verification so that essential monitoring does not depend on mandatory external inference, a vendor login or a live licence check. That is a design requirement to test with design partners, not a completed implementation.
Questions to ask any vendor
- Which functions stop if the internet connection is lost?
- Where do identity, licensing and model inference run?
- How do updates arrive, and how is their origin verified?
- What reporting is possible in each mode, and who controls it?
See the proposed deployment options.
